The Motor Racing Spectator

If there's one meeting I look forward to every season it's the Walter Hayes Trophy. The annual end of season Knockout for Formula Ford 1600 cars is always full of drama and incident and is one I always put in the diary first when compiling the fixtures! For the first time since May I spent both days of the weekend trackside and with the clocks going back 1 hour the previous weekend, Autumnal mist and fog was in evidence as I travelled South early on Saturday morning. Thankfully Silverstone was free of fog but an overcast morning saw qualifying for the 6 heats of the Walter Hayes Trophy (WHT) plus Historic Formula Ford 2000 and Closed Wheel Historic race. 10 minutes only of qualifying was allocated to competitors in the WHT meaning that any mistake would be punished. On a damp greasy circuit there were a few spins and some heroic retrievals by Marshals at Copse to push back into action drivers who had spun. The first Heat of the day was run just before the lunch break and se...

After a 260 mile round trip for my last meeting it was a mere 16 mile round trip for The Spectator on Sunday. The BRSCC were in charge for their "Finals" weekend. This was a 2 day meeting and the only categories I missed from the Saturday were the pair of HRDC historic saloon races. As I'd seen these at Mallory Park 3 weeks ago, there was no guilt on my part by just going on the Sunday! 14 races were scheduled so a packed day was in prospect. As October edges towards the dreaded weekend when British Summer Time becomes Greenwich Mean Time (THE worst weekend of the year......!) the mornings are ever darker and it was a particularly dark morning at Donington. Thankfully no fog to report as this meeting has been cursed by fog in years gone by. The first of 2 Mazda MX5 Supercup races kicked the days activities off and it was a blast from the Touring Car past as Paul O'Neill easily won. The second race later in the day saw a lengthy safety car period following 3 cars ...

The Spectator doesn't venture outside of the Midlands much for his spectating thrills these days so it was time to put that right and a visit to Castle Combe in Wiltshire was made for my latest meeting. Indeed it was way back in 2004 when I last made the trek to Combe. Situated near to Chippenham, the circuit is only allowed 12 racing days each season and this was "Grand Finals Race Day".  The circuit has always been a favourite for spectators with Bank Holiday meetings seeing crowds in their thousands turn out. There is a very local South-West feel to Combe...the Castle Combe Racing Club (CCRC) run core championships at the majority of meetings. Formula Ford 1600, Saloons, Sports Racing plus Sports & GT filled 6 of the days 10 races with visiting championships, Production BMW and Historic 1 litre Formula 3 completing the card with double-headers each on this particular day. The CCRC was formed several years ago due to the circuit management wanting to take m...

"Return to Mallory" was the title of this BRSCC organised raceday as the club (who once virtually organised all meetings at the circuit) were back in charge for a meeting at the Leicestershire circuit for the first time in several years. The glory days of the Overend family's tenure running Mallory seem a very long time ago now with weekly car and bike meetings running from March to October. Indeed this was only the 4th car meeting at Mallory out of 6 scheduled in 2015. At least the circuit is still open for racing though so it was on a gloriously sunny morning I headed off to Mallory for a meeting that contained 9 races with an eclectic mixture of old and new.  The Old came in the shape of 3 races run by the Historic Racing Drivers Club (HRDC). With the emphasis on the "car is the star" this club have found a niche in the crowded historic racing scene for drivers to race original touring cars from the 1950's & 60's. There was some special ...

Another Sunday, another visit to my spiritual home of Donington Park. This time for the second day of a Motor Sport Vision Racing (MSVR) meeting on the 2.5 mile GP circuit. A good looking timetable with 11 races scheduled to finish by 5.30pm and a very good entry in all classes meant The Spectator was eagerly looking forward to the days activities! A gloriously sunny September morning saw racing kick off with the VAG Trophy for Volkswagen group cars (including SEAT's!) Having watched the VW Cup the previous week supporting the British GT's the VAG Trophy does see some overlap in competitors but there are still some of the German marque's older cars to be seen on track with a few Vento's and Mk2 Golf's in evidence. Rob Cox won race 1 in his 2015 version Golf and race 2 was won by the Passat of John Stevens. Both races were very entertaining and robust encounters with the Old Hairpin gravel traps littered with VW's for recovery vehicles to take back to the padd...

The final round of the British GT championship saw The Spectator venture to Donington Park for the first time since July. A 2 hour race for the British GT's was the centrepiece of the BRSCC organised raceday. In support were double-headers for BRDC Formula 4, Ginetta GT5 Challenge & Volkswagen Cup.Add in to the mix  single races for Formula Jedi and Ginetta Racing Drivers Club and a 9 race programme was the result. On a sunny early Autumn morning the days action started with a qualifying session for the Formula Jedi's and the always curious 10 minute GT warm-up before racing commenced with the Ginetta GT5 Challenge. An excellent entry of 30 cars saw an entertaining first race but the days second race was a very poor affair with the safety car making 2 appearances, which, in a 15 minute race led to paltry few racing laps. Callum Pointon and Ryan Hadfield sharing the wins but James Kellett emerging as 2015 champion. Another staple diet on the Britsh GT package is the Volk...

After a 3 week "Summer" break, or should that be a 3 week Autumn/Winter break given the less than Summery August weather, The Spectator ventured to Silverstone for the first day of the World Series by Renault meeting. Starting at Donington in the mid 00's and then moving to Silverstone in 2008 the "Renault Weekend" was always a highlight in the calendar. Free tickets were given away in their thousands and huge crowds turned up every year. Featuring the core Renault championships of Formula Renault 3.5, Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and a Megane based saloon series the UK saw a round each year until 2011. After a 3 year hiatus the Renault weekend was back . No free tickets this time around though but a very reasonable £10 on the gate each day and a weekend ticket for £12 if bought in advance. The enormous crowds of yesteryear were not in evidence on Saturday and a crowd figure of 20,000 was quoted for the weekend which would appear to be that 19,500 turned up o...

With the motor racing circuits of Leicestershire not offering anything much in the way of car racing in August, it was time for The Spectator to travel further afield. A good looking BRSCC meeting on the Silverstone National circuit was my destination on the Sunday of the 2 day meeting. 12 races were on the bill and following 3 qualifying sessions in the morning, racing kicked off with a Mighty Minis race. It "kicked off" too much at Copse though early in the race as a 2 car shunt led to the appearance of the safety car for several laps. The dreaded safety car made another outing in the next race for Fiesta's after an incident at Brooklands but thankfully that was that for the day! The Fiesta championship provides a home for 4 examples of Ford's finest creation with the faster 2.0 litre ST version being the car to have. James "JJ" Ross taking both race wins in very dominant fashion. The ST Fiesta is also the model used in the Fiesta Junior championship. ...

For the first time in just over a year, Leicestershire's "other" circuit, Mallory Park, saw a visit by The Spectator. A car meeting at Mallory is a rare event sadly these days with the 2 previous meetings this year in March and May seeing me elsewhere. The fact that it was 376 days since my last visit was the sole reason for making the trip to the first day of a 2-day Classic Sports Car Club (CSCC) organised meeting. I'm not a huge fan of the CSCC's philosophy of 40 minute races for the vast majority of their races. Pit stops in club racing have never provided thrills as usually a good battle for position is nullified by a pit visit. The 40 minute race does however give the entrant more track time for their money plus costs can be shared with an additional driver if required. The humble spectator hasn't shelled out hundreds of pounds to watch though so longer races are understandable though they are certainly not always entertaining! 6 races were on the bi...

Despite a weather forecast that was awful (more of that later...) The Spectator still had the enthusiasm to head to Donington for the annual visit of the British Truck Racing Championship. The sheer novelty factor of watching the big rigs around the narrow strip of tarmac that is Donington Park means that an entertaining day should be on the cards! Saturday was a nice and sunny day but I was elsewhere. Sunday however was one of the most appalling wet weather days I've experienced for a while....The day started dry but the only fully dry track action we had time for was a Legends qualifying session and a Mini Miglia race before a good old-fashioned deep Atlantic low piled in for the day producing not only a very wet day but also an unusually very cold day. Not surprisingly the best race of the day was the Mini Miglia race on the dry circuit. Only 14 cars on the grid but a very entertaining race which harked back to the glory days of Miglia's in the 90's. A 10 lap race ...

After 5 weeks it was time to venture trackside again so The Spectator headed to his local circuit for the BARC organised Motors TV Live Raceday. Unusually the Saturday of this 2 day meeting was the better looking of the days with 11 races scheduled compared to 9 on the Sunday. Motors TV have been televising the occasional club meeting now for several years and it is an excellent way not only for the humble club racer to gain their 5 minutes of fame but also show the viewer that club racing can be entertaining to watch. On show on Saturday were the Caterham Graduates, Porsche Club Championship, Kumho BMW's, Avon Tyres Intermarque & Radical Owners Club. After a relatively incident free qualifying in the morning there was a race for the Porsche Club before the lunch break with the remaining 10 races then live on TV from 2pm onwards. It was a shame the Porsche Club race wasn't televised as it was a cracker. Peter Morris's 996 just beating Gary Duckman's Boxster to ...

The rather garishly designed programme cover above gives you an idea where The Spectator headed to on this particular weekend. The first ever visit to Donington of the British Superkart Grand Prix, long circuit karting's main event of the year. I only went on the Sunday of the 2 day meeting and a glance at the timetable before heading to the circuit meant that a very long day was in prospect! A mammoth 18 races were scheduled along with a couple of qualifying sessions. It was no surprise however when the commentator announced (even before racing began) that all timed races were to be reduced in length. The British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) were the organisers of the weekend so car support to the Karts came in the shape of various races for the Classic Touring Car Racing Club (CTCRC), Clubmans ..who were celebrating their 50th Anniversary over the weekend, Classic FF1600 & FF2000 plus MG Owners Club. The grandly titled FIA/CIK Superkart European Championship had a pair ...

Don't panic loyal readers.... This giant "Gillette" logo painted on the grass at the Craner Curves doesn't mean that Donington's beloved former operator has returned to run the circuit to dig parts of it up for no apparent reason! Thankfully it is a remnant from the World Superbike meeting a week before and by the looks of it will be difficult to remove for a while yet.... The Historic Sports Car Club were in charge for a 1-day meeting on the National circuit on this particular day. A proliferation of events for the older car has seen it possible for competitors to race almost every weekend both in the UK or in Europe so, to be honest, I've tried to avoid going to much Historic racing in the last few years. However the HSCC have managed to maintain a clubbie, low-key feel to many of their meetings and this 8 race meeting was testament to that philosophy. It's actually quite rare these days to have a 1 day meeting. Circuit hire costs have risen to the e...

There was a lot of motorsport to chose from on Bank Holiday weekend but there was only one choice as far as I was concerned....Silverstone for the 2nd round of the Blancpain Endurance Series. The lure of a 60+ car entry of GT3 cars racing for 3 hours was far too good to miss. The GT3 category is one of motorsport's success stories in recent years and Silverstone saw an even bigger grid than the 1st round at Monza in April which only saw 58 start! A complex Balance of Performance regulation tries to ensure a degree of parity throughout the field which, although irks the purist, helps maintain Manufacturer interest and there were 11 different makes on show at Silverstone. The support categories were all making their only visit to UK soil too this was a rare "International" meeting. There was a race each day for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Northern European Cup (NEC) Formula Renault and Auto GP. Strangely the Blancpain series leaves qualifying for the race until Sunda...

After a 6 week gap it was time for The Spectator to get back to his spiritual home of Donington Park. The Sunday of this 2-day BRSCC organised meeting saw 14 races scheduled. The headline act were 4 races for Caterham's. Roadsport, Tracksport, Supersport & Superlight versions of the marque had a race each day of the weekend. Apart from the Roadsports which had 20 minutes the other categories had 30 minute races. Should have in the case of the Supersports which was Red-flagged early with about 8/9 minutes to go. As usual there was some very close racing with the Caterham's but all a little samey in my opinion. Also on the bill were double-headers for the Jam-Sport Fiestas, Fiesta Juniors, Mk2 Production GTi and Mk5 Production GTi. The various incarnations of the Fiesta provided some entertaining racing and it was good to see the Juniors feature a 12 car grid and behave themselves on track! A name to watch for in the future is that of Aaron Thompson who easily won both r...

The Spectator's latest meeting was a last minute decision to go to Darley Moor. Located just South of Ashbourne in Derbyshire, the 1.5 mile circuit caters only for motorcycle racing. Although Darley is but 20 miles away from where I live, this was only my 7th ever visit. My first love will always be car racing but desperate to get trackside again for the first time in 3 weeks I ventured to the edge of the Peak District on May Day. Darley is a fearsomely fast place, not for the feint hearted, and that's just spectating! The ex-airfield triangular layout means that it's essentially straight-corner-straight-corner-straight-corner. From the startline there is a fast chicane that leads to Park, a basic 90 degree right-hander. Then a flat out blast to another quick chicane before the circuit's most infamous corner-Townleys. This quick left hander has zero run-off and on my first visit to Darley in 2001 I witnessed a fatal crash there.A very tight right-handed hairpin follo...

The first "big" meeting of the year in the UK in 2015 saw Silverstone as the hosts for the World Endurance Championship, Formula 3 Euroseries & European Le Mans Series. Having missed the equivalent meeting last year I was itching to get to Silverstone for the weekend and was awake at 5.00am on Saturday morning! After an extremely warm and sunny week, guess what, the weather turned and a burst of heavy rain at 8.30 to 9.00am saw the WEC cars hour long practice session start on a very wet track which, by the end of the hour, had started to dry out considerably. Watching from the grandstand at Becketts (which is officially THE coldest place on earth....) the standout car was the No.7 Audi driven by Marcel Fassler/Benoit Treluyer/Andre Lotterer. Visibly far quicker than any other LMP1 the Audi seemed glued to the track and was hugely impressive to see. Next action on circuit came the first race of the day with the opening round of the F3 Euroseries. An excellent entry of ...

Here we go again! The 2015 motor racing season started for The Spectator at his spiritual home, Donington Park. The 750 Motor Club were in charge for a 2-day meeting with myself attending on Sunday only. 14 races were scheduled following 5 qualifying sessions so it was handy that good old British Summer Time had started in the early hours of the morning so that enough light could be provided, not only to see the racing but also to see the rain coming down..... After what has been a relatively normal Winter weather wise, the gods decided to liven things up a bit with a terrible days weather on this particular Sunday. I'd spent the grand total of £15 on a "Wind-Resistant" umbrella the day before so innocently assumed this would last me through this season and many more more in the future....By lunchtime it had disintegrated and now resides in a bin near the Old Hairpin! Such was the strength of the wind it didn't even blow inside out, merely folded in on itself and ...

Admission & Programme Free!! As a solitary soul in life my parents would worry about me and would often ask me when I returned home from my many trips to motor racing in the 1990's, "Did you see anybody you know, did you speak to anybody at all?!" The answer would invariably be No until about 1997/1998 when I got chatting with Bob. When we both independently arrived at Anglesey circuit in April 1998 I knew then that this bloke was as equally mad as I was to get to circuits and racing around the UK.  Without knowing Bob I doubt I would have got to meet all the friends I have made at circuits around the country over the years. Sadly Bob's last years were spent struggling with a condition linked with Motor Neurone Disease and he sadly passed way on February 2nd 2015. I am proud to have known Bob over these last 17/18 years and look back with great fondness at the times we spent at circuits together. I worked out it was 16 venues that I'd spectated at with...